Hold On
by sierralove
Summary: Chapel has avoided being another notch in his bedpost but after an accident Kirk and Chapel become closer than they ever expected. But can they with stand hardships and their different personalities to work it out in the end? Kirk/Chapel
1. What I Wouldn't Give

It had been too quiet in the med bay today. Hell, it had been too quiet and too calm ship wide for the last week. Things had been running smoothly for the past couple of days but yesterday the Enterprise had run into a planet that wanted to make a treaty with the federation. Christine had heard from McCoy that Kirk was going down to officiate the deal. Something was wrong, she could feel it in her gut. The away team had left at least twelve hours ago. Maybe it was just her but it seemed like a long time to finalize the deal and sign your signature. Or maybe there was just more to it that she didn't completely understand. Either way, McCoy was down there and he had become something akin to a brother to her. They were very close friends and he watched out for her. Christine's mothering nature had taken a hold of her while he was a way and she'd set to worrying about him, like she did for everyone she cared about. Granted she should worry about the captain but she didn't know him at all.

Christine sucked in air and held it as Chekov came over the comm system. In these next few moments he would either relieve her fears or twist the knife in her gut. By the end of his transmission Christine was sprinting down the corridor towards the transporter room at the speed of light. Ensigns and other Starfleet officers quickly getting out of her way lest she bulldoze over them with out even the slightest utterance of a sorry. A gaggle of nurses followed behind her but not as fast as Christine. As she burst into the Transporter room the smell of blood filled her nostrils and crimson blood pooled on the floor. The head nurse locked eyes with McCoy and set to work as McCoy ordered nurses that came in behind her to do other things. Christine slipped on her gloves and quickly worked the body over; most of the damage had been done by a gunshot wound to the lower right quadrant of the abdomen. It didn't look like the works of a phaser or a new aged weapon it was definitely an old gun, like the antiques her father collected. If they didn't take care of the wound fast he'd bleed out. Christine hopped onto the stretched as the nurses rushed the dying man to the medical bay. She straddled his legs as she put all of the pressure she could muster onto the wound to staunch the bleeding. Stomach wounds were the worst if they weren't caught in time and that's what they were running out of.

The medical bay had been cleared of any patients they had earlier before the medical alert went out. As they entered the med bay McCoy handed Christine a hypo spray full of sedative. They were going straight into surgery. Christine placed the hypo spray against her patient's neck but before she could pull the trigger his eyes fluttered open in a moment of consciousness. She was surprised at how blue his eyes were especially now against his ashen face.

"It'll be okay. We're gonna get you all fixed up in no time. Do you understand?" Christine spoke soft and calmly like it was a secret conversation between her and her patient. He looked like he wanted to nod but couldn't muster the will power. He was going into shock.

"Is that my blood?" The whisper was barely audible and Christine had barely caught it. If she hadn't been so close to him she definitely wouldn't have. Instead of answering him she pulled the trigger and the familiar hiss of the sedative being released followed by the patients eyes closing against his will, not that he had a lot anymore.

"I'm sorry, but I promise everything will be okay." She never broke her promises. The surgery wouldn't even take a half hour. As long as they got him in there soon, which wouldn't be a problem at all. Just as she'd predicated the surgery was a snap, but they had overlooked a slight head injury that would leave him out of it for a while. McCoy estimated a few days, and added that the man needed rest anyway. Something about him working too hard Christine had barely caught the older physicians grumbles. As she watched over the man that she'd forced McCoy to place in her custody she felt a pang of guilt surge through her. She'd been so cruel to leave him hanging there. Obviously it'd been his blood but she couldn't very well have him panic, that's what they were first taught in med school, keep the patient from panicking. Her gloves had been just satiated with his deep red blood this was her way of making it up to him; by making sure no other nurse could mess things up with his recovery. He deserved the best, and he would get it.

Christine had made it a point to check on her patient every hour on the hour, no later. Though McCoy grumbled she was taking too much pity on the man she disagreed. Though maybe she did find herself slightly attracted to the blonde haired angel resting on the bed she now stood next to, but didn't many women find themselves somewhat attracted to him? Not to mention she'd locked eyes with those baby blues underneath his sleepy eyelids. This was no way to view a patient. With a shake of her head she pulled out a scanner as she passed it over his face his hand shot up and grabbed her wrist roughly. The Scanner flew out of her hand and on to the other side of the bed clattering to the floor. Her eyes slid from her wrist to his flaming blue eyes, an anger burning somewhere behind his attempt at self-control. Christine wiped the shock from her face as fast as possible and replaced it with her best smile.

"It's nice to see you awa-"

"What happened? Where am I? Did the treaty go through? Is everyone else alright?" his questions came fast and slurred sleep and drugs prevalent in his speech. It took her a few seconds to process what he'd said.

"Just let me go get Dr. McCoy, he can explain everything." Christine attempted to pull out of his grasp but he only tightened his already rough grip. He was much stronger than her and he knew it.

"No! Just answer my questions." He urged and jerked her closer to the bed. She was never one to let her temper get the best of her but he could not treat a woman or a nurse in general this way. Especially not after all she'd done to ensure he had the best care the ship could offer.

"You were shot in the lower right quadrant of your abdomen. Welcome to the med bay, you've been out for the past three days. I'm sure the treaty is fine and for the record you're hurting me." Christine ground out through her teeth attempting to keep her anger from seeping into her words. She jerked her wrist back to herself as soon as his grip loosened. With a sharp look she turned from him and rubbed her wrist to ease some of the redness. "I'll get Dr. McCoy now if that's alright."

"Sorry, I shouldn't have acted like that. But please don't get Bones yet, he'll just give me an earful about my reckless ways and probably punch me full of drugs." He looked slightly ashamed of his rash behavior and according to Chapel he should. That was no way to treat someone that was taking care of him.

"It's fine. But you should watch yourself. Honestly you're lucky it was I and not another nurse. Most of them here are jumpier than frogs at feeding time." And there she went letting her origins slip out in her speech. She often tried to keep her New Orleans sayings out of her speech bit sometimes she just couldn't help it.

"Well I guess I'm lucky to have you as a Nurse. I'm James T. Kirk." He gave her a devilish smile like that was just suppose to melt her under wear off and then he could have his way with her. As if, he may be good looking but she had more self respect than those other girls.

"I'm Head Nurse Chapel." She gave him a pleasant smile as his face dropped. That was exactly the response she often got from new visitors. Christine was young she knew that, so for her to be head nurse was quite the accomplishment but after the Narada fiasco she was the one left with the most nursing experience and McCoy had appointed her his number one.

"So you're the Head Nurse Bones always talks about. Go figure, he always keeps the good looking ones to himself." Kirk threw her a wink and she rolled her eyes. "Aren't you a bit young to be head nurse?"

"Aren't you a bit young to be captain of your own ship?" A smirk graced her lips at the same time Kirk smirked.

"I thought head nurses were suppose to be old and bitter."

"And I thought that captains weren't suppose to try and bed all of his female crew members." She trumped him and they both knew it. Her smirk widened into a smile. "I think I'll go get McCoy now. I bet he has a lot to talk to you about." Christine turned and started walking away as he called after her.

"It's not all the women you know!"

"Oh so you go for boys too?" And with the last word she disappeared into McCoy's office. 


	2. Let The Games Begin

Their laughter stung like a swarm of bees. This was no laughing matter! He couldn't have his crew thinking he was gay! Never had he heard such blasphemy but apparently Bones found the concept quite hilarious, as did the rest of his inner circle of friends.

"It's not funny!" Kirk chucked a balled up napkin across the table at the doctor.

"You're right it's not funny…it's god damn hilarious!" McCoy burst out laughing, starting another round of jests at Kirk's expense. Uhura, late to join the party, slid in to a chair next to Kirk. She found it odd that everyone else was laughing at Kirk, when usually it was Kirk and the others laughing at someone else. What had caused the tables to turn?

"What's so funny?" She inquired as she delved into her own plate of food.

"Nothing!" Kirk grumbled and looked down at his pasta.

"Nurse Chapel called Kirk gay. Apparently Kirk tried to come on to her." Bones informed their new tablemate. Kirk shot Bones a dirty look.

"Can someone please tell me where this girl is so I can give her a high five?" Nyota smirked and then gave Kirk a wicked grin. "Oh look there's Spock!" Uhura waved the Vulcan over to their table.

"Guess what Spock!"

"I believe the appropriate response is, 'what'?"

"Nurse Chapel called Kirk gay!" Nyota couldn't contain her joy. The thought of a girl standing up to Kirk reassured her that she wasn't the only sane woman aboard the ship. That and she relished the fact the Kirk's ego was now severely bruised. Uhura's smile widened as she watched Spock's eyebrow raise in question.

"Are you of this sexual orientation?" As soon as the words left Spock's mouth, Kirk turned a deep shade of red. That was the last straw!

"No! No I am not." Kirk grabbed his tray and stormed away from the table of his so-called friends.

Kirk stomped down the corridor toward the lift he couldn't help but feel challenged by that short blonde haired woman. In a short conversation with her she'd wormed her way under his skin. He would either win her over by showing her how manly he was or make her life a living hell. Either way it would be fun for him. No one could stand against his boyish good looks and his charm…well except for Nyota but she didn't count.

The lift doors opened but only to reveal the blonde that was currently irritating the hell out of one Captain James Kirk. As soon as she saw him a grin spread across her face. This was just perfect. He did look a bit peeved to see her but he did deserve what she had said to him. It's what he gets for thinking he can just get into any girls pants.

"Hello Captain! How are you feeling today?" Christine had always been too chipper for her own good, but this was also an act to annoy Kirk more. The man had to just be hating her, in fact it was practically written all over his face how much she irritated him. Sadly, as much as she hated to admit it, he'd been running through her mind quite often after the encounter. Just because she wouldn't get into bed with him, or at least fall for his charms, didn't mean she wouldn't in her dreams. Besides the real thing probably wasn't as good as the dream version.

"Nurse Chapel. I'm fine. Thanks." He was very formal with her, which showed how much he did not like her. A giggle was not was he expected from the other side of the life. "Why are you laughing?" Must everyone laugh at him today?

"Because your attempt at the cold shoulder is hilarious. Nice try though." And with a wink she stepped out of the lift and headed to the med bay. This woman was going to kill him. With a determined look he marched after her. Lucky for him he had long legs and he soon caught up to her. Before Christine knew what was happening Kirk had her up against a wall. Christina was shocked and her ice blue eyes locked onto his burning ocean blues.

"Can I help you?" She ground out through her teeth. She hated feeling trapped and Kirk was quite larger than her. He could easily over power her and she hated knowing that.

"I'm sorry does this bother you?" His bad boy smirk crept across his face. Something about that devilish look made her want to jump him right there. Unfortunately she had a lot of self control and bit her lip to keep from doing something incredibly stupid. He would not win this game.

"No at all. I love it when the ship's captain corners me and pins me to a wall." She closed the small space between them.

"I'm not gay."

"Well I would hope not or your boyfriend would go ballistic if he saw us!" She was pushing his buttons and she knew it. By now she was mere centimeters from his face. Her hands rested on his chest. "Now if you'll excuse me I have a shift to clock on to." With as much strength as she could muster Christine shoved him away from her. "See ya later cowboy." Before he had time to react Christine slipped into the med bay.

"Let the games begin." Kirk smirked and sauntered off to his quarters to plot against the short blonde nurse.


	3. Girls Night

Nyota had made a point in befriending Christine. It'd been a couple weeks since Kirk freaked out about being called gay. Though Christine was enjoying that she'd burned him she had a sinking suspicion that he was planning something. Christine looked across the table to Nyota, whom was chattering excitedly to another communications Christine was pulled out of their interesting conversation to the sound of the comm system coming on. That was funny it sounded like they were calling her name…but the wasn't possible. She had hours before her shift in the med bay started.

"Christine…Christine!" Nyota snapped the blonde out of her trance. "You're needed on the bridge. Get a move on girl." Christine nodded but didn't understand why she was needed on the bride. Curious though, she made her way to the nearest lift and soon arrived on the bridge. It seemed busy but she easily spotted Kirk in the middle of the room discussing what looked like a very important topic with Spock. Christine had never been on the bridge before, it wasn't her place, and it all looked so beyond her. Crewmembers were chattering over top of each other and bustling about. Hell just standing by the lift doors she was in the way as a helmsman bumped into her which sent her stumbling down the steps. Her cheeks turned a pale pink as she mumbled a fast apology to the man that was now out of earshot. The next thing she knew Kirk was beside her, grinning like a fool.

"Have a nice trip?"

"Why of course. I often like being shoved out of the way only to fall down the stairs." She returned sarcastically. Where were her manners, this was no way to treat the Captain. But he just brought out the worst in her.

"Care to take a walk with me, Nurse Chapel? I have some things to discuss with you." Kirk extended his arm towards the lift, so it wasn't an invitation it was more of a do what I say or get in trouble offer. Well who could say no to that. Christine moved past him and entered the lift. Kirk followed with his silly grin on his face still.

"So you've taken to calling me to you over the comm. should I feel special or stalked?" This whole scenario put Christine on edge. She didn't like it one bit.

"Oh special, very special. There's a planet that's asked for our medical help. McCoy suggested we take you with us. It's nothing serious just a backwater planet with little technology. They just need to be taught the basics. McCoy says you're our girl." Kirk gave her a smile. Well how could she resist such an offer?

"What do you have up yourself?" Maybe she had trust issues but it was Kirk after all and didn't he believe there was no such thing as a no-win situation. The man liked trophies or at least things that boosted his ego.

"Nothing up my sleeves." Kirk told her trying his hardest to look as earnest as possible. If it hadn't been for the trouble-making gleam in his eye Christine would've believed him.

"Honestly, Captain, I don't believe you but I get the feeling I have no choice. What time do we depart?"

"0700 tomorrow morning. A uniform will be waiting for you in the ready room. Bring your A game Chapel." Then he left her in the hall they'd started down and retreated back to the lift.

"Oh no, it's fine, just leave me here alone. I'll just escort myself back to the mess hall after being interrupted!" Christine stomped her foot and marched towards the lift.

"Christine, how did we go for so long with out knowing each other? You're like my white long lost sister." Nyota gushed as she flung herself onto Christine's bed.

"Because I sleep during the day and work all night long and unlike the rest of the crew you keep yourself out of harms way; thus successfully avoiding sick bay and me." Christine explained to her friend.

"See, you make sense. Everyone else is…illogical." Nyota shared a look with Christine and both girls' starts laughing. Christine didn't have very many close friends on board the ship considering she worked the night shift. That and even when she had time off she was a bit of a hermit. Most of the time instead of conversing with others she liked to hole up in her room with a good book. Uhura, however, had different plans for the nurse.

"Please, explain to me again why we're having a girls night," Christine sat down on the bed and stared Nyota down.

"We are having one because tomorrow morning is your first off ship mission." Christine gave the other woman short look, "and hopefully your last. So I brought champagne, chick flicks, popcorn, and dirty magazine I had stored for those long ship nights." Nyota grabbed the first bottle and poured two glasses and handed one to Christine.

"Ah, I see. And none of this has to do with Kirk personally asking me to go on his little field trip?"

"Of course it does. Because if he asked you that means he likes you and that means you must be at your best to toy with the man. He gets away with too much and I have a feeling you're the woman to put him in his place." Nyota finished her speech by also finishing off her drink.

"Well who can argue with that logic? I guess why not have a little fun, since Kirk is probably gloating to one of his lesser male friends about his triumph of getting me to go. He abuses his captain's powers." Christine joked and took a sip of her champagne. It'd been a long time since she'd had any form of alcohol. Granted she was only just barely twenty-one, so it wasn't like she had a whole lifetime of drinking behind her. But at least she wasn't as young as poor Chekov.

"Exactly. Now bring up the first movie, crack open that magazine and pour us another glass!" Nyota clinked her glass against Christine's as if she were toasting. Christine would most likely regret this in the morning.


	4. Planet Side

"You're dead to me." Christine whispered in Kirk's ear as they sat down on the shuttle. Kirk, seemingly, forget to mention that the said uniform was that of what the people of the planet wore. Which at the moment consisted of Christine wearing a leather dress with too short of a hemline and a way too deep v cut. She was revealing more than she wanted. The whole outfit was impractical and not under Starfleet regulation. Of course Starfleet regulation dictated that it was only inappropriate ship attire and seeing as they were going down to a planet, they had to fit the culture. Her life had definitely taken a drastic turn from being unknown to being tortured by the captain. It wasn't just that she was revealing too much, that wasn't torture to her, no it was the fact that it smelled of rotting milk and made of leather. She had a soft spot for animals and definitely didn't like wearing them. Christine had a slight inkling that if they didn't get to the planet soon she'd find herself strangling one James T. Kirk. Thought there was one brightest to these tight fitting outfits…Kirk looked quite nice in a certain lower region. Maybe this could be bearable.

"That stings Nurse Chapel." Kirk turned and feigned hurt. He loved toying with her and she only enjoyed it when she got the upper hand. Which seemed like an even match. One moment James would be doling out the punishment and the next he'd be at the mercy of Christine. It was like a never-ending tennis match that had been going on all morning.

"How badly? I've got a hypo spray full of painkillers in my bag…no wait! Or was it the hypo spray that I loaded with the vaccine for melvarian mud fleas? I can't seem to remember now, oh well." She gave him a sickly sweet smile. In return her gave her a sarcastic smile back. They sat in silence after the exchange, both plotting a new way to get back at the other. To Christine it felt like hours had gone by when in face it'd only been forty minutes. After landing Christine got a reprieve from Kirk as he led the team to the village. She had to admit, he was a great leader. She loved the way he took charge and how everyone seemed to respect him. Christine wanted to respect him like every one else did, but his playboy attitude prevent her from doing so. His attitude also prevented him from seeing her as a human being or better yet, it prevented him from seeing the female gender as a coworker. Males equaled coworkers, females equaled sex object, and it was as simple as that.

Christine had nothing against sex but she didn't think random sex with hot men was really the way to go about pleasing yourself. Honestly she'd only had sex with one man named Roger Korby, a backstabbing scientist that dropped her for furthering his career. Silly Christine still thought he'd pop up and take her back. The worst part is that he'd gone missing and taken her heart with him, the rat bastard.

"Alright listen up everyone. , Nurse Chapel and Nurse Leighton, you'll be following Iya to their sick. Johnson, Hart and I will be about the village keeping an eye on things and helping out where we can. Reid and McMasters will be posted by the hut to guard the women. Women stay close to the men at all times. Apparently women have been kidnapped lately and I think we'd like to keep ours." He looked directly at Christine and gave her a wink. She returned the disgusting move with a roll of her eyes.

Chapel adjusted her pack and followed a very tan, older woman to a large hut. Before Christine entered, Kirk grabbed her by the arm and separated her from the group.

"Can I help you? I need to be in there with Doctor Watts and Nurse Leighton." Christine gave Kirk a displeased look.

"Calm down there tiger." Kirk smirked, that charming one that would make any girl's pants fall off. "I just wanted to tell you to be sage. It's dangerous out her so I've had them place you in the same sleeping hut as me for our stay here." His worried expression caught her off guard but there had to be some ploy underneath it all.

"My Captain, your kindness is new to me. I don't know how to react." Sarcasm dripped from her words but they didn't please Kirk. "I'll be fine. If it's cannibals I'm too stringy for them to eat and if it's rapists I can scream pretty loud. It'll be okay, scouts honor." Christine gave him a sincere smile that seemed to reassure him. "Watch it captain or you'll give the impression that you're a softy." Her smile turned wicked within seconds.

"Trust me I can be very hard and I bet we could test just how loud you can scream tonight." The two had gotten closer during their bantering, the gap between their bodies closing by the second.

"Only in your dreams cowboy."

"Maybe dreams are better than the real thing." Christine feigned hurt, just like Kirk had earlier.

"I guess you'll really never know will you?" The two adults jumped apart like teenagers as nurse Leighton came to get Christine.

**Authors Note:** Hey so I'm going camping for four days. So you'll just have to wait for the next installment. :] Please review and let me know what you think! And don't worry we're starting to get down to some good action. Catch ya on the flip side.


	5. Right and Wrong

Half way through the day Christine already longed for a break .The village suffered common maladies everything ranging from broken bones that set wrong, to infected cuts, as well as common colds. Many village women had watched in awe as Christine and nurse Leighton quietly went about their business mending the wounded. They rarely used anything that would be to advance for the villagers to comprehend. They were still fairly early in their technology but they did have long-range communications. It was apparent the village had invested more time in hunting technology than medicine. She guessed that people just had different priorities than Earth did and left it at that. One lady in particular, Ona, had asked to be taught. At the mention of learning many of the women had quickly surrounded the nurses. Christine agreed that in the morning she would teach them basic first aide.

Somewhere between wanting a nap and helping the sick Christine found herself wandering the village looking for Kirk. After a couple of minutes of searching she found him with a group of young men working on constructing a new hut. Kirk was in the center giving instructions on how to best lay a foundation with the materials they had on hand. It felt good knowing they were helping the less fortunate. But apparently the younger gentleman cared less about the building techniques and focused more on Christine. She posed as a distraction and one by one the boys lost interest in Kirk and gawked at Christine instead. Christine didn't notice though, she was paying more attention to the way Kirk was focused on the task at hand. It wasn't much longer before James noticed that attention had been diverted from him.

"Take a break boys. We'll come back to this in an hour." The boys disbanded and Kirk made his way to Christine. "To what do I owe this pleasure?" Kirk asked as he came to a stop in front of her.

"Don't seem so pleased with yourself Captain. I just thought you might want some lunch. Iya caught me on my way here informing me of soup that was ready. She said there was enough to feed a whole army. I informed her she's never seen a Starfleet officer eat." Christine didn't know why she was acting so nice towards him. Maybe it was because she caught a glimpse of some concern in his eyes earlier that morning, or maybe it was because the constant bickering was starting to wear her down. Either way she didn't feel like lashing out at him, a little peace between their skirmishes.

"Sounds good to me." Kirk took a last glance at the worksite and followed Christine to the center of the village. Many of the previous boys from Kirk's group were in line already. The odd couple had fallen silent as they waited their turn. It struck Christine as odd that he wasn't trying to get into her pants or making cracks of his own towards her.

"You're quiet today. Is there something on your mind?" Christine broke their silence as they sat away from the crowd. Her eyes scanned over his face. It was contorted into a stern look. Like there was something plaguing him. She'd never considered him to be a man that thought upon things so deeply. He always seemed rash and quick to act. This was a side of him she'd never seen before.

"I'm fine. I was just thinking about these people. They're so nice and yet people are kidnapping their women," he paused, "I was watching them earlier and they're all so skittish." Kirk's voice was heavy with the seriousness of the conversation.

"Is there really anything we can do?" Christine was at a loss. This kidnapping of the women wasn't their battle to fight. They were only here to help them help themselves by giving them the basics to keep their village alive.

"We can help them defend themselves. Give them weapons." James set his uneaten soup on the ground.

"Yes let's give guns to the untrained, under developed citizens that still lock up their women during their menstrual cycle. That's a brilliant idea." Christine scoffed. Was he serious? These people couldn't handle the responsibility of guns. Medicinal basics sure but give them firearms to destroy each other? Did Enterprise really have the right to give one side the upper hand? Christine didn't think they did. This fight wasn't there's to help the village win.

"You're a nurse aren't you suppose to help people?" Kirk turned on her, anger flaring in his eyes.

"Help them heal. I'm giving them ointments not hypo sprays and scanners! Everything I'll be teaching them is based off of what they already know and uses what they have. The remedies come from plants they grow and can mix together. I'm giving them what they can handle." Christine defended herself. She'd become upset with the tone Kirk had taken with her. "You give them guns and you will corrupt them. They have many years till they advance to another level of intellect and when they do they'll make more of their own weapons with their own modifications. This isn't our war to wage."

James shot her a glare then decided to ignore her. Just because he didn't like being wrong didn't mean he had to be an ass to her.

"Really? Fine, if you need me you know where to find me." She stood up in a huff and stalked off to her duties. Christine couldn't believe the nerve of him asking her opinion and then as soon as it didn't please him he turned on her. What a bunch of bullshit.


End file.
